The perfect days before we leave...

Community. It's amazing. It's the thing I thought would make us leave China early - the lack thereof, that is. But now, it's a huge part of life here. Something I will so miss when we do leave.

It's the day before we fly to America for three weeks, and it's been the most stress-free day-before-travel ever. My friend offered to watch Hadassah in the morning while Ellie napped, and then also invited us over for dinner. I got to pack for two hours alone in the morning, and then the girls naps overlapped another two hours in the afternoon to finish this and that and clean up. Even the refrigerators are clean! And then - no dishes tonight!! My friend has given me the extra gift of sleep, because usually I am up really late on just-before-flying days. But now, it's 8:45 PM and my feet are up. I'm done packing. Wow.

It's such a blessing to have close friends here. Someone who has been open and real with me, allowing me to bless her in her moments of need (severe morning sickness has plagued her, so I was able to bring them meals almost weekly for a while). And now she knows me enough to know what will bless me. And it has. Facing 21 hours of travel, it feels so good to have had FOUR HOURS to myself today to pack and get ready. Because pretty soon for an entire day I'll have my sweet baby on me in some way! ;) Often I only have one hour if that without a girl awake during the day, so four hours has seemed like bliss, though I must admit I missed having my chattering little helper around in the morning.

This spring has been amazing. The weather here has been gorgeous lately. Not hot, just perfect (even a bit cool at times!) and the last few days the AQI has been low that I've had the windows open and the breeze going through. It even smells good! In my book, May and October definitely win the "best months in Shanghai" award!

But the community has been even more amazing. We just finished up a study of the book of Mark. 5 of the 6 ladies a part of it live in our complex. One of them made an amazing celebratory lunch on the last day. And while I still really really want a back yard somedays, being able to just walk 5 minutes to get to her place from mine is really so convenient. There is beauty and blessing in apartment life. I didn't know I would ever be able to say that with certainty, but I am convinced of it now. Definitely would prefer a house one day. But for now, we are so blessed.

The weather has put everyone in a good mood, as we've been able to get out more. And Hadassah and Ellie are playing together all the more, which is so sweet to see. Though Hadassah often can't understand why Ellie keeps trying to grab the book whenever she tries to read to her... ;)

They were my packing buddies yesterday after naps. And when Hadassah said "I'll put my arm around her and you take a picture," it's not something one can refuse!

With the weather so beautiful, yesterday Ryan took off a bit early to get out and enjoy it with us in the late afternoon. His stomach wasn't doing well so work wasn't happening much anyway. We seem to have pinpointed it to mushrooms... He can do them in the states just fine, but almost every meal here with them has made his stomach messed up. But he was still an amazing Daddy despite the pain!

Dassah got to explore and try to befriend cats (who all ran away) since we rode our bikes to campus.

This little one loved watching her big sister feed crackers to the birds.

She's my baby, growing up so fast, and I love her so!

Dassah also got to feed the fish. It was so funny whenever one would grab a big piece and go racing across the lake with a huge pack of fish following as quickly as they would go!

Beautiful, perfect days? Pretty much. This is the Shanghai I want to always remember...

The willows beside the water...

The particular twist of this tree trunk... God has made an amazing world.

Dassah was literally jumping for joy!

This little munchkin has mastered rolling and prefers sleeping on her tummy now it seems. And it seems to have made her naps longer, which is wonderful! My goal of getting her to a four-hour routine (2 hours wake time, 2 hours nap) has finally seemed to be reached for good, just a few days before we completely switch her days and nights and mess her all up. *sigh* But at least I know what she can do, and as I have to wake her up during the new day, I'll know what to aim for. Facing lots of missed sleep ahead, but it's worth it. And these last few perfect days, filled with sunshine that dried my laundry and fresh air filling my house and beautiful blue sky to roam beneath have given me strength to face what's ahead.

Prayer is appreciated. We leave at 12:20 PM our time on Thursday, which is around Midnight for you folks in the states. We'll have 3 flights and finally arrive in Montgomery around 9 PM CST on Thursday. But, I'm ready. God is so good.

Family in Spring

Remember those Easter dresses? I've decided they were made for outdoor pictures. Especially when it's a day the air is clear, the sky is blue, the sun is warm, and life is just good.

A friend met us at the botanical garden on campus to take the family pictures, then we stayed later to get a few of the girls. It worked well, because Ryan took some family pictures for him the day before. :) Spring is the time to capture them for sure!

Especially since both the girls and the flowers are in such bloom :)

We are so blessed to be just a 15 minute bike ride from such beauty!

 We had to take a few running breaks for the squirmy toddler ;)

 On with the aprons! And do you know how hard it is to get both girls to look at the camera at the same time? A squeaky book toy helped with Ellie!

 Told Hadassah to put her arm around Ellie for a picture, and she just started kissing her over and over. She truly does love her sister, and it melts my heart...

 Sweet sister smiles

 Seriously, does it get any better? And I've decided toddler-baby pictures are so much easier to capture when the baby can almost sit up on her own!

 I have my arms full...

They're full of love.

 This stone was pretty convenient - allowed for a single portrait of Ellie while the apron hid my hands holding her from the back.

 The essence of little girl-ness :)

Dassah is never long parted from a stick of some sort!

Ryan and his little girls :) Dassah was done with pictures and Ellie was due for a nap, but the sweetness comes through. He's an amazing Daddy.

 
All loaded on the bike and ready to go! Somewhat of a pain to get in the elevator, but it allows me to go places with both girls that I'd almost never go by walking, so it's a blessing! And I'd forgotten how fun it is to ride a bike...

Easter Dresses for my Girls

My girls. It still hits me how wonderful it is to be able to say it. :) While I have nothing against boys and really hope God gives us some one day, I am so enjoying our girls.

On a side note, here in China, it's interesting how everyone - EVERYONE - who sees me out with my girls assumes that Ellie is a boy. "Xiao Didi" they say - "small younger brother." Even though she's almost always dressed completely in pink with a pink blanket, they assume she's a boy, because they see that I already have a girl. They also aren't as picky about what they dress babies in, often using hand-me-downs regardless of color, so I understand that they could be confused there. But I happily reply "Je shi Meme" (this is younger sister) and they smile. But I know what they're thinking. Boys are often valued and desired more here. Especially because they were only allowed one child (or two, as the current policy has changed). But I am so happy to have two girls! I was telling a taxi driver that I had two girls one day, and he could tell... He said (in Chinese) "you really like girls." Yes, I do. :) Childhood dreams are being fulfilled...

Like sewing Easter dresses. I knew I wanted to this since before I was married. But the first year we had a daughter, we were packing to move to China. I had no time to sew. The second year we were in China, and I had no sewing machine. But dreams of making something with white eyelet still persisted.

 But how practical is white eyelet for little girls that always spill? So while out shopping for fabric with friends before Ellie was born, the idea for white eyelet pinafores was born. Then I can put them on for brief cute times and take them off in times of eating. Or if spills do happen, they'll be easier to bleach because they're all white!

And besides, what is cuter than a tiny baby pinafore??

 And with them being for little girls, I get to put cute touches just because... Because you can never be too cute or girly when they're small!

 When we knew for sure we'd be staying here more than a year, and especially when we found out we'd be having a second girl, I made the investment for a sewing machine to have here. And I'm so glad I did. There's just something about working with fabric on a quiet afternoon.

 The machine doesn't come out often, and I'm learning I have to just take it out sometimes even if all I have is 30 minutes at a time. Because those few minutes do make progress that turns into dresses. But God was really good today. Despite Ellie's current pattern of short naps being the norm, today BOTH girls had naps that overlapped for 2 hours!! I was able to enjoy blessed silence except for the whirr of the machine, and create.

And I'm pretty excited about the end result. :) I showed Hadassah the dresses and she immediately wanted to put them on. :) It will be fun to see them all dressed up to celebrate our Lord's resurrection on Sunday!

First Picnic of 2016

 The weather being good enough to do a picnic is one of the first signs of spring, and something I celebrate. So although the morning of March 5th was busy, and Hadassah was getting into everything and disobeying *right* as I was trying to get out of the door in order to make it to meet Ryan on time (who was on a time crunch) once I finally got out the door I was glad I'd made the effort. There's just something about eating outside...

 Especially when you have such a gorgeous tree in front of you.

 So fun to have another baby with us on our picnic this year! And notice that cute little hand-pose?

 Okay, so really she was just wanting to do this ;)

Daddy had to get back for a meeting, so we enjoyed a little more of the outdoors while Hadassah kicked her legs and ate her frozen peas and corn one by one. Yes, she prefers them frozen to cooked (though she'll eat them both ways) - which saves me a step in meal prep sometimes! It is nice having this little walking area just outside of our apartment complex with a gazebo for a picnic.